The collection consists of critical writings, reviews, essays, lectures, transcripts, radio broadcast transcripts, correspondence, photographs, and printed material of Kermode, representing his entire extant archive. The collection includes original typescripts and drafts of Kermode's published work, as well as transcripts of lectures and radio broadcasts. There are many uncollected essays dating from 1969 to 2003. An extensive circle of major correspondents from the academic and literary world, such as Al Alvarez, William Empson, William Golding, Kenneth Koch, Muriel Spark, Stephen and Natasha Spender, and Allen Tate, throw light on the literature and critical thought of that era. Included is substantial material documenting the circumstances leading to the resignation of Kermode and Spender from the board of Encounter in 1967, after it was revealed that the magazine was funded by the CIA.